Jennie Geisler: Food gifts come from the heart

Wednesday

Dec 20, 2017 at 11:16 AMDec 20, 2017 at 11:36 AM

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As much as I love Christmas shopping (online only, from my favorite chair, beverage within reach, preferably wearing pajamas), I would rather play around in the kitchen and fill baskets with yummies to give away.

Of course, my plans are always bigger than my time frames, but I usually get a few things done, swearing next year I’ll do it all. It’s happening again, incidentally. If I had off the rest of the year, I wouldn’t be able to do it all. But it’s fun to think about anyway.

I found a few things that make nice gifts for a variety of giftees. Nothing went according to plan, but it would frighten me if it had. If you’re looking for something to slip into a basket or tiny bag for coworkers, these ideas might work, or inspire you to fantasize about what you’ll be able to get done in the next, gulp, five days.

5 things I learned:1. The Winter Orange Pomegranate Iced Tea was deep Christmas red in the picture and I thought it would look lovely in a clear, fancy bottle from a thrift store, Christmas Tree Shops or Pier One. But mine came out kind of muddy looking, which wouldn’t look all that Christmassy. So I chose a brown bottle I had in the basement.

This sent me on a wild tangent that ended with me finally finding out that the top of my fancy brown bottle boasts a “lightning” enclosure, the name of that swinging bar with the stopper and rubber gasket you see on old-fashioned bottles — and bottles trying to look old-fashioned. I’m sure you will be thrilled to learn that the apparatus was first patented by Charles de Quillfeldt of New York City on Jan. 5, 1875.

2. By the way, there are Lightning (now called “swing top”) bottles available from wholesalers online, though there’s that last-minute thing. Look for “swing-top bottles” in the Google. One immediate and fun source of fancy bottles would be a four-pack of Grolsch beer. Just saying.

3. Moving on. If you are really pressed for time and need an impressive food gift, you can’t go wrong with chocolate bark. I’m not embarrassed to admit that I WAS pressed for time and succeeded in making four different batches in half an hour.

I like to microwave chocolate to melt it. You can also use a double boiler or jury-rig one from a sauce pot and heat-proof mixing bowl. Either way, plan to babysit it. Just because chocolate bark is easy and quick doesn’t mean you can go washing dishes or decorating the house at the same time. Chocolate does not appreciate being ignored. It’ll seize if it’s too hot, or it gets wet, or it’s melted too quickly.

4. I usually skip watching food videos with online recipes. I don’t know why. They usually contain pretty good information. It just feels like it’s slowing me down. But for the chocolate bark, I actually watched the one on “tempering” chocolate and it offered yet another technique that pros use to melt it that they say gives chocolate more “pop” when you break it and prevents “bloom” or that whitish coating chocolate sometimes gets after long storage. It’s safe to eat, but unsightly.

Anyway, it’s called “tempering.” The woman on the video said it was a short-cut version of tempering, where you put warm water in one large bowl, and the chocolate in a slightly smaller bowl and place it in the water bowl and — making sure not to get water on the chocolate — stir it until it’s smooth, changing the water as needed. I’ll have to try it sometime. Now’s good for me.

5. One thing on the Pecan Cookies, which are pretty straightforward: I wouldn’t make them into shapes that have a lot of intricate pieces sticking out — because they’re crumbly. My stars were really pushing the physics of this dough. And, by the way, the dough is very crumbly. No, you didn’t do anything wrong. The longer you knead it (more like mush it around), the more the butter will soften and bring everything together.

To be honest, if you’re shipping them anywhere, I’d go with circles or squares. And don’t forget the vanilla sugar. It’s divine.

Merry Christmas dear readers. I wish you all the warmth and peace of loved ones gathered around lots of yummy food.

Finely chop the chocolate and melt it in one of two ways:In a microwave: Place chocolate in a glass bowl and heat at half power for one minute, stir with a completely dry fork. Continue microwaving at smaller and smaller increments (remember to use half power), each time stirring with the same fork that has not been in contact with anything but the chocolate until chocolate is smooth.

Alternatively, use a double boiler, or heat about 1 to 2 inches of water in a large pot to simmer. Place a bowl that does not touch the water over the pot and stir the chocolate in the bowl until melted and smooth.

Once the chocolate is melted, spread it on the parchment or waxed paper and top as desired, see below for suggestions. Let bark set up in a cool room (or, in a pinch, in the fridge).

Preheat oven to 325 F. Place pecans and ½ cup sugar in a food processor; process until pecans are finely ground. Transfer to a large bowl.

Stir flour and remaining sugar into pecan mixture; cut in butter until crumbly. Transfer mixture to a clean work surface; knead gently to form a smooth dough, about 2 minutes. (Mixture will be very crumbly at first, but will come together and form a dough as it’s kneaded.) Divide dough in half.

On a lightly floured surface, roll each portion of dough to ¼-inch thickness. Cut with a floured 3-inch cookie cutter. Place 1 inch apart on ungreased baking sheets.